Promote Your Book with Testimonials and Endorsements

Testimonials and endorsements can be powerful book marketing tools.  I’m pleased to have Tony Eldridge, who landed a book endorsement from bestselling author Clive Cussler, share his expertise in this area.

Welcome Tony, and thanks for sharing.  So, what is the difference between a testimonial and an endorsement?

First, testimonials and endorsements are similar in that you have someone commenting on your book and both are powerful tools to share with potential readers. That said, testimonials are given by readers. Maybe the most well known testimonials are found in the reader reviews on amazon.com. Endorsements are given by experts or celebrities who can influence sales of your book. You will almost always have to solicit any endorsements you want to have for your book.

How can authors encourage readers to give testimonials?

Testimonials are usually much easier to get than endorsements. The best way to get testimonials is to simply ask people for them, especially when someone tells you they love your book. There is never a time I pass on asking someone to write an amazon.com review if they take the time to tell me they liked my book.

You can also approach people directly and ask them if they would consider writing a quick, two or three sentence review for you. Be honest and let them know that what they say can help others who have not read your book decide to give it a try.

Another way you can solicit a testimonial is to offer someone a copy of your book in exchange for a promise to let you know what they think of it.

What are the best ways to seek endorsements?

My best advice is to shoot for the stars. You never know when circumstances will align for you to actually get the endorsement of your dreams. However, don’t forget to go after any person who can influence the sale of your book. If you wrote a book on coping with a disease, a doctor can give a powerful endorsement. If you are writing a book on leadership, a CEO or HR Director of a company can give powerful endorsements. Here are some tips on going after endorsements:

1. Start early. It can take months to find out who will give you an endorsement and then to get it from them.

2. Research the contact information for your list of potential endorsers and send out requests to multiple people. You don’t want to send them out one at a time because of the timeframe often involved in getting answers back from experts and celebrities.

3. Be prepared to deliver what they want. Some people will want the full manuscript to read; others will want a summary and maybe a few sample endorsement statements to choose from or to modify.

4. Be patient. It can often takes weeks or months to get your endorsements back. As you approach your deadline, you may need to send a friendly reminder to your endorser. 

Tell us about you and your book.

I am the author of the action/adventure novel, The Samson Effect, that Clive Cussler (endorsement) called a “first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure.” You can read many testimonials of my book on amazon.com.  A major Hollywood producer has acquired the film rights to The Samson Effect.

I have a background in corporate marketing and I used my professional skills to help me market my book. I quickly learned that many authors have little knowledge when it comes to knowing how to market their book. I have taken my passion and knowledge for book marketing and created a blog with daily marketing tips to help authors find creative ideas on marketing their book, especially if they are on a shoestring budget. You can find my blog at Marketing Tips For Authors.

I also created a weekly newsletter that delivers free video marketing tips to subscribers, walking them through some of the more technical ideas I discuss in my daily blog. Visitors can view a sample video tip and then sign up for my free weekly newsletter by visiting Weekly Video Tips For Authors page.

Comments

[Kathy Carter]

Thanks for the useful tips. When contacting potential endorsers, should an author offer them something in return? And what's the best way to approach a potential endorser who doesn't know you?

[Tony Eldridge]

Hi Kathy! Pardon the delay in answering your comment- I have been unavoidably offline for a few days.

To your first question, you want to be careful how you bring up the subject of offering things for an endorsement. You don't want to overtly offer to trade something of value for their endorsement. You will run into people who may be offended if you ask them to "sell" their endorsement. That said, you can subtly let them know that you will be grateful for their endorsement and if you can do anything for them, let you know. That effectively lets them know you are willing to give them something of value in a unoffensive way.

As to your other question, here are my suggestions, in this order, for approaching an endorser who doesn't know you:

1. Get introduced. If you know someone who knows them, arrange an introduction.

2. Develop a relationship with them before asking for an endorsement. This can be as simple as swapping e-mails or commenting on their blog. Anything that has you and the expert interacting. The more interaction, and the more positive the communication experience, the easier it will be to broach the topic of endorsing your book.

3. If those two things don't work (you have no common acquaintances for introductions or you are too pressed for time to develop a relationship), then you will need to take the direct approach and contact them with a cold contact, asking for their endorsement. Remember, this puts you into the same boat of all the other authors asking for their endorsement. If your expert/celebrity is well known, count on the fact that you are not the only one asking for an endorsement. Here is what I would include in a cold endorsement pitch:

1. Introduce yourself and your book

2. Ask for the endorsement

3. Tell why their expertise would be perfect for the book

4. Sincerely flatter- tell them what you like about their work.

I hope this helps. Good luck acquiring the endorsements of your dreams!

[Gary Dale Cearley]

I am an author and I found this blog posting helpful! It gave me a real jolt to remind me to get working on this. Secondly, if I might be so bold to add something to Tony's answer to Kathy above...

I would not forget social networking sites, especially LinkedIn for getting in contact with people on your wish list for the endorsements if you have to cold call. LinkedIn is a professional tool and by using it you may just find out that contacting the target person isn't as much of a cold call as you might think.

[Zarach]

Have noted that giving a copy of the book in exchange for a testimonial, doesn't produce results 100% of the time.